Improved coal-mining machine



v niPiTE'is, HMO-LITHOGRAFHER, WASHINGTON D C ight-itch titten gstellt@ffice -GEORGE-EDMUND DONISTHOR'PE1 'OF LEEDS, ENGLAND..

LetfteisPatent No. 76,417, detail April 7, 1868 ptenledz'n England,-lOctober 28, 1863.`

IMPROVED GOAL-MINING" MACHINE.

TO VALL'TO WHQM IT MAY'CONCERN:

Beit known that I, GEORGE EDMUND DoNIsTHonPE, 'of Leeds, in the countyof York, England, a. subject of the Queen of Great Britain, haveinvented or discovered new'and useful Improvemcnts'in Apparatus usedvwhen Getting Coaland other Minerals, and I, the said GEORGE EDMUNDDONISTHORPE, do hereby declare the nature of the said invention, and inwhatmanner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described andascertained in and by the followingstatement thereof; that is .to say-This invention has fcr'its object `improvements in apparatus used whengetting coal and other minerals. For this purpose carriages running onrail'or tramways, and havingpicks or cutting-tools, worked by power, aresometimes now employed. Now, according to my, invention, in order tosteady such carriages on the rails, whilst the picks or cttingltools arein action, vI employ wedges on the sides of. thc-rails, such wedgesentering between thetrail and the frame of' the carriage, or aprojection therefrom. The wedges arefdrawn in by means of springs, eachtending constantly to drawits wedges into the space hctwe'cnthe Aside ofthe rail and the frame of; the carriage, or the projection thereon. Inthisvwny the carriage is iirmly secured to the rails, so -as to preventany lateral motion. \The wedges do not, ho\rv-ev cr,`intcrf`ere with theforward motion of the carriage, thel smaller ends of the wedges beingltowards the-front of thecarriage; consequent-ly, the carriage, inadvancing, immediately clears itself from them. s Y A My invention alsoconsists'in employing, in apparatus for getting coal and other minerals,a clearer, in Vcombination 'with the pick, the clearer being so arrangedthat, at each stroke of'the pick, it enters witliit into 4 thc groovecut in ythe coal or mineral, and, as the pick returns, the clearerretires with it, raking out, as it does `so, the small behind the pick.The point of the clearer, in entering, is somel distance behind thepoint of the pick, but, when theV latter comes to the end of its forwardmotion, the point ofthe clearer comes up to the' point of theppick, andthe two enclose the smallrcoal or mineral between them. In retiring,the-.clearer and pick remain with their points close together, and. theycarry with them, out of the groove in the work, the small' previouslyenclosed; and, in order that my invention may be most 'fully understoodand readily carried into practice, I will proceed to describetheaccompan'ying drawings.

.Description of the Dra/wings.

Figure l'shows a plan of so much of a machine for getting coal and otherminerals as is necessary for illus; trating my invention. Y

a a and b b are the wedges for steadying .the machine at the time thatthe picks or cutting-tools are in action. These wedges enter between theprojections cl d1, von the frame of the carriage d, and the rails c c,on v which the carriage is supported. .The projecting 'parts'cl1 d* alsoserve to support these wedges. The smaller ends of the wedges a a aretowards the front of thecarriage,iand their inclined sides work againstcorresponding inclincs on the projections d1, so that as the carriagemoves forward it clears itself from them. The hinder end ot'. euchwedge, a, .is connected, by a link, f, wtha spring, le, the -other endsof the springs e c being attached, ,n trz'dz, to the forward part oftheycarriage or framing d. Thus, when the carriageis caused to move`forward, the wedges aa and b b will be drawn forward also by thesprings, each spring tending'to draw its wedges into the spaces betweenthe sides of the rail lc 'c,avndthr'e inclines formed on the projectionsoZl oZ ofthe framing al of the carriage. By these vmeans the-carriagewill be rmly secured to the rails or' trar'nw-ay,`so as -to prevent'laterallmotiom I The wedges Aa a, which `nre at the back end of thecarriage, are, inthe arrangement shown in the drawing, connected bytelescopic rods, alb, with other similar wedgcs, b, at the front of thecarriage, there being springs, b2 b2., enclosedy within the tubular,parts of the'rods a b1, which press forward the wedges b b towards y thefront of the carriage.l In place of the .arrangement ahove'described,other arrangements might he employed for acting on the wedges aa and ZJb, so as to press them forward towards the front end of the carriage.

Figures-2, 3, 4, and 5 show thepicks oreutting-tools, together withclearers used in combination therewith.

. Figure 2 shows a plan.4 I

L Figure 3, an elevation. Figure 4, a section takenat theline B'Bin'tig. 2; and

Figure 5, a section taken at the line A in iig.' 2. l a a are the picksor cuttingtools,'and 'b are the cloarers. The picks a are bolted orotherwise secured to abcd, e, which can slide to and fro betweensuitable guides above the top of afranie, d, which is fixed abovethecylinder e, employed for givinfmY the to-'and-ro motion to the frame c,which carries the cutters. 1 The pistonrod el of the' cylinder e isconnected, by the nuts e2, to the baci: end ot'theframc c. The clearcrsZ1 nre formed with stoms, which are received in socket-piecea-bl, whichlie at the forward ends of grooves, c2, formed along the top ofthe bed-,Aand turn en pins, b2, as shown. Reccsses are formed in thesocket-pieces b, in which small pistons or studs, c, are carried.' Thesepistons are pressed outwards from the recesses by spr-ingsfbg, andcaused to bear against the sides of the groove c2. The socket-piecesthus tend to turninto such a position as to keep the pointszoi` theclearers away from the points of the cutting-tools.

ff1 are sliding weights capable of slidingto-'and fro in the grooves c2.The forward ends of these sliding;l

`weights fare formed with inclnes,f, which work with correspondingnclincs at the rear ends of the socketpieces bl. As the picks orcutting-tools commence to make their forward stroke, thesliding weightswill he at `therezir ends of the grooves c2, so that the inclinevsf willnot be acting on the inclines at the rear, ends ol the socket-pieces.The points of the clearers will thus be away fromothe points of thecutters, but when the cuttersV have completed their forward stroke, thesliding weights which have been carried forward bythe closed ends of theslots will, by their momentum, be' carried forward, and the inc'linesf,at their Aforward end be brought against the inclines at the rear lendsof the socket-pieces, and so turn the clearers, and bring their pointstowardsthe points of the cutters, and enclose the small coal'oimineialcut away`by them. The cl'earersl remain in this position during thebackward stroke of the cutters, so drawing hack the enclosed pieces'. Atthe end of vthe backward stroke .the momentum of the weightsfl carriesthem to the rear end of the slots c2, 'and thon the springs b3 againmove the points of the clearers away from the cutters, so allow-ing thesmall coal or mineral to escape, .and the clearers remain in thisposition during the forward stroke. Y

On the underside of the weights f1 are projections,a 3, which workinislots, c3, .in the bed c, and act as stops to limit the movement ofthe sliding weights.v .c4 c4 are covering-plates covering thesocket-pieces b. These plates carry springs,f*, which bear against thetop of the sliding weights, and prevent them from rebounding, `and somoving awayfrom the sockct-pcces after striking against them. Theforce-ot' the springs can be increased or diminished by screws-,fitAlthough -I have only described one arrangement of mechanism forgivingmotion to the clearers, yet `I do not confiney myself thereto, asother arrangementsof mechanism may he employed; but I 1.. Theapplication of. wedgesto secure or hold the carriage to the rails,substantially as herein described; and

l2. I claimthe application ofclearers or clearing-instruments to thepicks or cutting-tools,substantially as herein described. y

G. E. i DONISTHORPE.

Jr., }Both of Leeds, England.

